Issue 79, 2016, Issue in Progress

Carbon dioxide affects the phase transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Abstract

The effects of atmospheres of CO2 and N2 on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) in aqueous solution have been investigated using high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HP-DSC). In the absence of CO2 and N2, the phase transition—from the hydrated to dehydrated state—of PNIPAAm in aqueous solution was characterized by an endothermic peak near 30.5 °C, namely the LCST. This endothermic peak shifted to relatively lower temperature upon increasing the pressure of CO2, but shifted slightly to higher temperature under a higher pressure of N2. This behavior appears to be associated with the CO2 molecules displacing the H2O molecules from around the amide groups of PNIPAAm upon increasing the pressure, thereby enhancing the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds between the amide groups; in contrast, increasing the N2 pressure strengthened the interactions of H2O with the apolar isopropyl and amide groups. Despite the difference in the effects of CO2 and N2 on the LCST, higher pressures of CO2 and N2 both led to more positive changes in enthalpy (ΔH) for the phase transition per mole of NIPAAm units. The higher values of ΔH at higher CO2 pressures presumably resulted from the formation of strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds. For a given CO2 pressure, the value of ΔH was less positive at higher concentrations of PNIPAAm, suggesting a lesser degree of disruption of hydrogen bonds during its HP-DSC heating scans. Under a given pressure of CO2, the addition of a salt (NaCl, KCl, KBr) led to a further decrease in the LCST and the value of ΔH of the aqueous PNIPAAm solution, due to the salt ions coordinating H2O molecules.

Graphical abstract: Carbon dioxide affects the phase transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
21 Jun 2016
Accepted
03 Aug 2016
First published
04 Aug 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 75032-75037

Carbon dioxide affects the phase transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Y. Shieh, T. Zhou and S. Kuo, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 75032 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA16113H

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